2026 World Cup: Croatia's potential game-tying goal called back thanks to sensor chip embedded in the game ball

For a moment, Croatia seemed to do the impossible. In the Round of 32, Joško Gvardiol scored a stoppage time equalizer to keep their game against Portugal alive.

But the goal was called back after VAR review, sealing Portugal’s 2-1 victory and ending Croatia’s World Cup run in heartbreaking fashion. Notable, though, was the reason why VAR was able to overturn the goal: a microchip, embedded in the game ball, that confirmed the offsides call.

Before the goal, Ivan Perišić had sent a long ball into the box, where it was received by Mario Pašalić; the ball then bounced, before Gvardiol slid to send the ball into the net. And while it seemed that Igor Matanović, who was in the box, may have made contact with the ball before it ended up with Pašalić, it was difficult to determine from video review alone.

That’s where the chip came in: The sensor was able to determine that Matanović did indeed touch the ball with his flicking header before it landed with Pašalić. That distinction led to the offsides call, because while Pašalić was onside when Perišić made his pass, the midfielder was offsides as Matanović got his head on the ball.

Adidas, which announced the addition of chips in the game balls back in October, refers to the motion sensor tech as “Connected Ball Technology.” The chip, which measures inerta, is placed directly into one of the four panels making up the ball, rather than suspended in the center; the rest of the ball then contains counter-weights to make sure that the ball is not unbalanced.

Information from the chip is sent to the VAR in real time, per Adidas. That makes it easier for officials to determine when players hit the ball (including with potential handballs), how much speed they hit it with, and much more.

The chips are run on battery power, which does mean that the game balls have to be charged prior to game days. Once charged, the battery life of a game ball lasts about six hours, via multiple outlets.

Croatia becomes the latest team to be affected by a goal being called back after VAR review, but is one of the first to have that call be directly informed by the chip. As a result, Portugal will be moving on to face Spain in the Round of 16, while Croatia will be heading home early.